Table 4 displays the different programme types identified that support children’s access to education. About half of all programmes (37 in total) related to education are school feeding programmes (13) or educational fee waivers (8).28 However, it is important to keep in mind that the schemes themselves vary greatly in design and size. School feeding programmes tend to be larger, usually benefiting all children enrolled in public schools. Educational fee waivers, on the other hand, commonly target a smaller group of children, such as Lebanon’s NPTP and zakat-funded educational fee waivers in Kuwait, which target children from disadvantaged households.
1 scheme
2–3 schemes
More than 4 schemes
Table 4. Programmes supporting access to education by programme type and country Algeria
CCT
CIT
CIT
SFP
Morocco
CCT
CCT
SFP
CIT SFP
Iran
UCT
SFP
SFP
Kuwait
CCT
EFW
SFP
Tunisia
CCT
CCT
SFP
Jordan
CCT
SFP
EFW
Djibouti
UCT
SFP
EFW
Qatar
CCT
SFP
Lebanon
EFW
HCB
Egypt
CCT
SFP
Oman
CCT
Saudi Arabia
SFP
Sudan
SFP
EFW
Cash-based transfers: CCT = conditional cash transfers/UCT = unconditional cash transfers In-kind transfers: CIT = conditional in-kind transfers/SFP = school feeding programmes
SOP
EFW
UAE
EFW
EFW = educational fee waivers
Yemen
EFW
HCB = health care benefits
Source: Authors’ elaboration based on programmes mapped.
Scholarships and/or financial support to purchase school materials as well as CCTs linked to school attendance are the two ways in which cash transfers were found to be linked to education. Algeria’s Allocation Spéciale de Scolarité, for example, was created in 2000 to incentivise school attendance among children from poor households. Similarly, Morocco’s Tayssir programme was designed to minimise school drop-out rates in the most impoverished regions of the country. In total, 10 CCTs in 8 countries (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Tunisia) are linked to some sort of educational conditionality for children—either requiring a minimum attendance or a proof of enrolment. There are also cases in which conditionalities are not strictly verified, as in Tunisia’s Programme d’Allocations Scolaires (PPAS, part of the Programme National d’Aide aux Familles Nécessiteuses—PNAFN). Conditional in-kind transfers related to education are less common. Three programmes in Algeria and Morocco provide school-age children with school materials to reduce education expenditures. In Algeria about 4.4 million children receive free school books annually (UNGA 2015). Similarly, in Morocco more than 4 million students received school materials in 2015-2016 through the Initiative Royale 1 Million de Cartables (Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances 2017), covering 53 per cent of children aged 6–17 in 2015 (World Bank 2017b).
28. Note that programmes for university students are not considered in this classification.
30 | Overview of Non-contributory Social Protection Programmes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region Through a Child and Equity Lens